Today’s news: Springer publishes OA books; a Wikipedia and Libraries webinar recording; A New Report: Open access and Academic Libraries; E-Readers to survive; B&T’s FirstLook includes digital content; 2012 Census of Governments now online; and Tesco buys Mobcast.

 Springer now publishing Open Access books

“Springer is expanding its open access (OA) program by offering a fully open access option for books, which will extend Springer’s established SpringerOpen and BioMed Central journal portfolio, and its Springer Open Choice option. Any electronic version of a SpringerOpen book is fully and immediately OA, and thus freely accessible on SpringerLink for anyone in the world with access to the internet…”

“Wikipedia and Libraries: What’s the Connection?” Webinar Recording Now Available

“In this webinar, OCLC Research Wikipedian in Residence Max Klein discussed what’s happened between Wikipedia and libraries in the past and what it means for the future. In addition, he explained the connection between Wikipedia and libraries, discussed the variety of Wikipedia in Residence positions and the opportunities for libraries working with Wikipedia, as well as described how OCLC Research is working to integrate Authority Control into Wikipedia. He also presented “Behind the Secret Door: Tips and Tricks for Librarians using Wikipedia.”  (Click on the article link to get to the webinar recording.)

 New Report: “Moving Towards an Open Access Future: The Role of Academic Libraries”

InfoDOCKET provides a link to this new report entitled Moving Towards an Open Access Future: The Role of Academic Libraries (19 pages; PDF).   The report is the result of a roundtable discussion convened by “SAGE in association with the British Library into the role of the academic library in an open access (OA) future.  The roundtable discussion “was chaired by publishing consultant Simon Inger and attended by an international panel of 14 senior librarians and other industry experts…”

Dedicated eReaders to Survive the Media Tablet Onslaught as a Niche Play

According to ABI Research “Eleven million eReaders are projected to be shipped globally in 2012. Down from a peak volume in 2011 of 15 million devices, the growing popularity of media tablets along with declining US baby boomer population and lack of organized digital bookstores outside of the US and Western Europe will reduce the eReader opportunity over the next five years.

Regardless of the tremendous historical eReader success, the market tides have already begun to turn, says senior mobile devices analyst Joshua Flood. Despite the average tablet selling for more than $465 as a result of Apples dominant market position, tablets are expected to outsell eReaders 9 to 1 this year. Adds Mr. Flood, Nevertheless, the eReader market will not be totally cannibalized by media tablets. We believe there will always be a niche market for the dedicated reading device for voracious readers, business travelers, and educational segments, particularly ones that are low-priced…”

Baker & Taylor extends FirstLook to digital content

Baker & Taylor Inc., announced “that it is extending its popular FirstLook title notification service to include digital content. The first in a series of feature enhancements for libraries using Axis 360 that will be released over the coming months, FirstLook Digital enables librarians to identify and purchase important new digital and printed materials at the same time in one seamlessly integrated workflow…”

Available online: 2012 Census of Governments

ResourceShelf reports that the 2012 Census of Governments is available online.  “The Census of Governments identifies the scope and nature of the nation’s state and local government sector; provides authoritative benchmark figures of public finance and public employment; classifies local government organizations, powers, and activities; and measures federal, state, and local fiscal relationships.

The data are available by:

• level of government (state, local, or state and local combined),
• type of government (state, county, city, township, special district, school district), and
• category of governmental activity (more about governmental activities).

Tesco fills the e-books piece of its digital puzzle by buying Mobcast

In the fascinating emerging digital content battle between some of the UK’s biggest retailers, Tesco is again reaching in to its M&A pocket to tool up.  The supermarket chain is acquiring Mobcast, a vendor of white-label e-book stores, for £4.5 million ($7.1 million) (RNS) to further fuel its own digital book ambitions…